The Salaita Case
Opinion/Editorial The Salaita case and Cary Nelson’s use of “academic freedom” to silence dissent Vicente M. Diaz The Electronic Intifada 14 August 2014 Books and papers lie amid rubble at the Islamic University of Gaza on 2 August, after it was hit by an overnight Israeli air raid. ( Ashraf Amra / APA images ) Cary Nelson , retired University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) English professor and past president of the American Association of University Professors , has been busy. From the moment that the story broke of Chancellor Phyllis Wise’s underhanded nixing of Steven Salaita’s de facto hiring in my department, Nelson has rushed forward as the administration’s biggest cheerleader and defender against condemnations , protests and what amounts to a growing boycott of UIUC from scholars and academic associations . In the interest of disclosure, I co-chaired the search committee that recommended Salaita’s hiring. In live media and